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AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



April 



bloom nearly all the summer. The 

 bees are constant visitors to these 

 flowers and they are also a great 

 source of attraction to the tiny, glis- 

 tening humming-birds that come and 

 go all day long, while they remain 

 with us. It is always interesting and 

 often amusing to watch their many 

 little antics. The campanulas are very 

 decorative and there are endless 

 kinds to choose from. The biennial 

 varieties of the cup-and-saucer type 

 are most favored by the bees, as the 

 anthers are simply smothered with 

 pollen. The little catmint makes a 

 nice little plant for the extreme edge 

 of the borders. 



Lilies of all kinds are noted for 

 their wealth of pollen and the orien- 

 tal poppies have also quite a lot. The 

 latter make a gorgeous show, as they 

 are now to be had in colors of all 

 tints, ranging from pure white to all 

 shades of pinks, salmons and the 

 most beautiful reds and crimsons. 

 One can scarcely afford to leave out 

 the iris family, aptly termed the 

 "poor man's orchid," as although not 

 of much, or indeed any, value to the 

 bees, no garden is complete without 

 them. There is a long-continued se- 

 quence of most beautiful and quaint 

 flowers if all the various types are 

 grown, viz., the Spanish, English, 

 German, Siberian and Japanese 

 forms. Phloxes are in the same cate- 

 gory as the iris family, in not being 

 visited by the bees, but are favorites 

 for the humming-birds, which fre- 

 quently hover over them. These 

 make such a grand show and flower 

 for so long a period that they are an 

 absolute necessity in every garden, 

 and are sweetly scented. The dwarf 

 Alpine varieties are well adapted for 

 the rockery. The long-spurred col- 

 umbines, too, must be remembered. 

 These have been greatly im- 

 proved of recent years. The hum- 

 ming-birds are fond of them, as with 

 their long tongues they have no diffi- 

 culty in reaching the nectar. Of 

 course no garden would be complete 

 without roses, the queen of flowers. 

 The double kinds are of no service to 

 the bees, but the single-flowered va- 

 rieties, of which there are so many 

 lovely kinds, and the briers, yield a 

 certain amount of pollen. I almost 

 forget to mention the peonies, that 

 • I so splendidly here. There is 

 an endless array of beautiful kinds. 

 I lie single-flowered ones have quan- 

 tities of pollen. The stately holly- 

 hocks should also be found a place, 

 the single forms of which the bees 

 are very fond of. The bergamot, the 

 horse mint of Texas (variety Cam- 

 bridge Scarlet) is very striking and 

 flowers all summer and is a great at- 

 traction to the humming-birds. 



Of all the annuals that are grown 

 there's nothing the bees are so fond 

 of as mignonette, for which room 

 should always be provided, if only on 

 account of its sweet and constant 

 perfume. The bees simply revel in 

 the blossoms and are to be found 

 i very day when they arc abli 

 to fly. Phacelia tanacetifolia, belong- 

 ing to a small genus of t alifo 

 annuals, is well worth growing. A 

 place should be set aside for Shirley 



and other kinds of poppies, as these 

 yield bounteous supplies of pollen 

 and also help to make the garden gay. 

 Nasturtiums of different kinds also 

 deserve to be grown, as the bees re- 

 peatedly visit them. 



For late summer and early fall 

 there are the perennial asters, or Mi- 

 chaelmas daisies, some of the newer 

 varieties of which are a great ad- 

 vance on older kinds, and are rich 

 in both pollen and nectar. The Jap- 

 anese anemones, or wind flowers, 

 bloom at this period and are very 

 pretty and graceful. 



Queen Efficiency 



By P. C. Chadwick 



FOR some time I have given the 

 thought of queen efficiency more 

 than the usual amount of study. 

 The fact that in some parts of Cali- 

 fornia, as well as some of the South- 

 ern States, winter breeding is not 

 only frequent but excessive, gave 

 rise to the thought, is excessive 

 winter breeding desirable? From 

 the standpoint of consumption of 

 stores it is reasonable to believe 

 that where winter breeding is in 

 progress to any extent, there is also 

 a flow of nectar that is causing the 

 breeding, which we will assume is 

 sufficient to meet the needs of the 

 colony for that purpose. But the 

 effect on the life and energy of the 

 queen seems of more importance 

 than the mere fact that the colony is 

 breeding during the winter months. 

 There is a period in the life of the 

 queen when she may be said to have 

 reached the "peak" of her energy. 

 The question then arises, how can 

 we secure the best- results from her 

 or can we so arrange her career as 

 to secure her services in honey pro- 

 duction when she is at the "peak" of 

 her career? In some locations it is 

 doubtful if this can be accomplished, 

 yet it might be. 



My observation on the life and en- 



ergy of queens is that the first sea- 

 son after their mating is the best of 

 their life, or, in other words, they 

 pass the "peak" of their energy at 

 that time, in California. In the east, 

 where the winters cause a long peri- 

 od of rest, as well as being more or 

 less inactive during the autumn, the 

 situation is somewhat different. But 

 even there I have observed that 

 where a long breeding season, say 

 from apple bloom to the close of a 

 long white clover flow comes, the 

 energy of the queen by the next sea- 

 son is waning. In California the 

 breeding under normal conditions in 

 all parts of the State should begin in 

 earnest by mid-February, and if the 

 season is a good one we may expect 

 the breeding to continue almost un- 

 abated until well through July, thus 

 giving five months of continual and 

 excessive activity. A queen mated 

 the July previous will have passed 

 her "peak" of usefulness, during the 

 twelve months, under these condi- 

 tions. 



The amount of breeding space 

 given a colony is a factor, for if the 

 queen is confined to an eight-frame 

 hive in the brood-chamber proper, or 

 other small breeding space, she will 

 be efficient much longer than the 

 queen that is given a ten-frame 

 brood-chamber and allowed to lay 

 freely in the extracting-super also, 

 for in the ten-frame hive, with the 

 extracting super, she will have 

 eighteen frames available for brood, 

 while in the eight, her limit would be 

 the eight frames. 



If a queen mated in July is placed 

 under conditions that cause her to 

 lay continually through the summer, 

 autumn and winter, it is possible for 

 her to have passed her best before 

 the close of the season the spring 

 following. Hence, it would seem 

 that if breeding could be kept to a 

 minimum during the winter months, 

 the response in the spring would be 

 more rapid and a greater force of 

 young bees could be secured of the 



A Wilder apiary in the overflowed regi< 



